Rotary type fluid machine, vane type fluid machine, and waste heat recovering device for internal combustion engine

ABSTRACT

Rotary type fluid machine includes a casing  7,  a rotor  31  and a plurality of vane-piston units U 1 -U 12  which are disposed in a radiate arrangement on the rotor  31.  Each of the vane-piston units U 1 -U 12  has a vane  42  sliding in a rotor chamber  14  and a piston  41  placed in abutment against a non-slide side of the vane  42.  When it functions as an expanding machine  4,  the expansion of a high pressure gas is used to operate the pistons  41  thereby to rotate the rotor  31  via vanes  42  and the expansion of a low pressure gas caused by a pressure reduction in the high pressure gas is used to rotate the rotor  31  via the vanes  41.  On the other hand, when it functions as a compressing machine, the rotation of rotor  31  is used to supply a low pressure air to the side of pistons  41  via vanes  42  and further, the pistons  41  are operated by the vanes  42  to convert the low pressure air to the high pressure air. Thus, a rotary type fluid machine having expanding and compressing functions, with the merits belonging to the piston type and the merits belonging to the vane type, can be provided.

This is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 09/926,117 filed Sep. 5,2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,482. The disclosure of the priorapplication is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a rotary type fluid machine and a vanetype fluid machine which can also be used as an expanding machine and/ora compressing machine, and a waste heat recovering device for aninternal combustion engine for extracting mechanical energy utilizingwaste heat of the internal combustion engine.

BACKGROUND ART

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 6-88523 describes a waste heatrecovering device for an internal combustion engine for generating hightemperature and high pressure vapor with heat energy of exhaust gas ofthe internal combustion engine and supplying the high temperature andhigh pressure vapor to a turbine type expanding machine to generatemechanical energy.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-41602 describes a doublemulti-vane type rotary machine. This is such that a circular vanesupport ring is disposed between an oval outer cam ring and an ovalinner cam ring, and that outer ends and inner ends of a plurality ofvanes supported slidably in radial directions by the vane support ringare placed in abutment against an inner peripheral surface of the outercam ring and an outer peripheral surface of the inner cam ring,respectively. Thus, when the vane support ring exerts a relativerotation with respect to the outer cam ring and inner cam ring, volumeof a plurality of operation chambers comparted by the vanes between theouter cam ring and the vane support ring is expanded or compressed tofunction as an expanding machine or a compressing machine, and volume ofa plurality of operation chambers comparted by the vanes between theinner cam ring and the vane support ring is expanded or compressed tofunction as an expanding machine or a compressing machine.

In this double multi-vane type rotary machine, outer and inner rotarymachines can be used as respectively independent expanding machines, theouter and inner rotary machines can be used as respectively independentcompressing machines, or one and the other of the outer and inner rotarymachines can be respectively used as the expanding machine andcompressing machine.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-206990 describes a vanetype rotary machine which can be used as an expanding machine or acompressing machine. This is such that a circular intermediate cylinderis disposed in an offset manner between a circular outer cam ring and acircular inner cam ring, which are disposed concentrically, and thatouter ends and inner ends of a plurality of vanes supported slidably inthe radial directions by the intermediate cylinder are placed inabutment against an inner peripheral surface of the outer cam ring andan outer peripheral surface of the inner cam ring, respectively. Thus,when the intermediate cylinder exerts a relative rotation with respectto the outer cam ring and inner cam ring, volume of a plurality ofoperation chambers comparted by the vanes between the outer cam ring andthe vane support ring is expanded or compressed to function as anexpanding machine or a compressing machine, and volume of a plurality ofoperation chambers comparted by the vanes between the inner cam ring andthe vane support ring is expanded or compressed to function as anexpanding machine or a compressing machine.

In this vane type rotary machine, outer and inner rotary machines can beused as respectively independent expanding machines, the outer and innerrotary machines can be used as respectively independent compressingmachines, or a working fluid having passed through one of the outer andinner rotary machines can be made to pass through the other to connectthe outer and inner rotary machines in series for operation as atwo-stage expanding machine or a two-stage compressing machine.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 57-16293 describes a vane typerotary compressor. This is such that a circular rotor is rotatablydisposed in a non-circular cam ring, and that a roller provided at anintermediate portion of each vane is guided in engagement with a rollertrack provided in a casing in such a manner that tips of a plurality ofvanes radially supported by the rotor move along an inner peripheralsurface of the cam ring.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 64-29676 describes a radialplunger pump. This is such that a plurality of cylinders are radiallyformed in a rotor disposed in an offset manner in a circular cam ring,and that tips of plungers slidably fitted to the cylinders are placed inabutment against an inner peripheral surface of the cam ring to bereciprocated and thereby operated as a pump.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58-48706 describes a Rankinecycle apparatus comprising a vane type expanding machine. This is suchthat high temperature and high pressure vapor energy generated by anevaporating machine using a gas burner as a heat source is converted tomechanical energy via a vane type expanding machine, and that resultantreduced temperature and reduced pressure vapor is condensed by acondensing machine and then returned again to the evaporating machine bya supply pump.

The applicant proposes a waste heat recovering device for an internalcombustion engine having an evaporating machine for generating hightemperature and high pressure vapor using waste heat as a heat source,an expanding machine for generating an output by expansion of the hightemperature and high pressure vapor, and a condensing machine forliquefying reduced temperature and reduced pressure vapor exhausted fromthe expanding machine, in order to recover waste heat of the internalcombustion engine, in Japanese Patent Application Nos. 11-57933 and11-57934.

The expanding machine proposed in the Japanese Patent Application No.11-57933 or Japanese Patent Application No. 11-57934 is such that apiston is slidably fitted to a cylinder radially formed in a rotor, andthat high temperature and high pressure vapor is successively suppliedfrom a fixed shaft disposed at the center of the rotor to each cylinderto drive the piston and thereby rotate the rotor. A rotary valve forsupplying high temperature and high pressure vapor from the inside ofthe hollow fixed shaft to each cylinder with predetermined timing issuch that a seal block made of carbon for guiding the high temperatureand high pressure vapor is resiliently in sliding contact with an innerperipheral surface of the hollow shaft formed with a through-holecommunicating with the cylinder, and that the spring force is generatedby a spring and a bellows operated by the high temperature and highpressure vapor.

It should be noted here that the expanding machine disclosed in theJapanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 6-88523 is the turbine typeexpanding machine of the non-displacement type, but known as adisplacement type expanding machine are a piston type expanding machineand a vane type expanding machine.

Each of the machines disclosed in the Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-open No. 59-41602 and the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.60-206990 comprises the plurality of vane type rotary machines disposedinside and outside in the radial directions, and the vane type rotarymachine has a simple structure of a conversion mechanism betweenpressure energy and mechanical energy and can deal with a large flowamount of working fluid with a compact structure, while there is aproblem that a large leak amount of the working fluid from a slideportion of the vane makes it difficult to increase efficiency.

The radial plunger pump described in the Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-open No. 64-29676 has high sealing performance of a working fluidbecause the working fluid is compressed by a piston slidably fitted tothe cylinder, and can minimize an efficiency reduction due to a leakeven when using a high pressure working fluid, while there is a problemof requiring a crank mechanism or slanting mechanism for convertingreciprocating motion of the piston into rotary motion, which makes thestructure complex.

Therefore, it is desirable to make a rotary type fluid machine, vanetype fluid machine, or waste heat recovering device for an internalcombustion engine have both merits belonging to the piston type andmerits belonging to the vane type. Further, in the vane type fluidmachine or waste heat recovering device for the internal combustionengine, it is desirable to minimize a leak amount of a working fluidfrom a slide portion of a vane.

In the expanding machine proposed in the Japanese Patent Application No.11-57933 and Japanese Patent Application No. 11-57934, the hightemperature and high pressure vapor in the cylinder on the rotor issometimes condensed to be liquefied at the time of actuation when thetemperature is not sufficiently raised, and moreover, there is also apossibility that water used as a lubricating medium may permeate thecylinder. When the piston is moved in the cylinder in a state where thewater is thus trapped in the cylinder, there is a possibility thatnormal operation of the cylinder and piston maybe inhibited, and hence,the water trapped in the cylinder is required to be rapidly exhaustedoutwards.

The expanding machine proposed in the Japanese Patent Application No.11-57933 or Japanese Patent Application No. 11-57934 requires not onlythe seal block made of carbon but also the spring or bellows forpressing the same against the inner peripheral surface of the hollowshaft, thus there is a problem of complexity of a structure whichincreases the number of components. Further, difference in coefficientof thermal expansion between the seal block made of carbon and thehollow shaft of SUS-based metal causes radial distortion at the time ofhigh temperature, and there is a possibility of a leak of part of thehigh temperature and high pressure vapor without contribution to drivingof the rotor.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

A first object of the present invention is to make a rotary type fluidmachine, a vane type fluid machine, or a waste heat recovering devicefor an internal combustion engine have both merits belonging to thepiston type and merits belonging to the vane type.

A second object of the present invention is to greatly increase sealingperformance between a rotor chamber and a vane in a vane type fluidmachine or a waste heat recovering device for an internal combustionengine.

A third object of the present invention is, in a rotary type fluidmachine, to prevent water condensed in a cylinder at the time ofactuation or the like when temperature is low or water supplied as alubricating medium from being trapped in the cylinder.

A fourth object of the present invention is to reliably prevent a leakof a high pressure fluid from a rotary valve of a rotary type fluidmachine with a simple structure including a reduced number ofcomponents.

To achieve the first object, according to a first feature of the presentinvention, there is proposed a rotary type fluid machine having anexpanding function and a compressing function, including a casing havinga rotor chamber, a rotor accommodated in the rotor chamber, and aplurality of vane-piston units which are radially disposed in the rotoraround a rotary axis thereof and freely reciprocated in the respectiveradial directions, each of the vane-piston units having a vane slidingin the rotor chamber and a piston placed in abutment against a non-slideside of the vane, wherein when functioning as an expanding machine,expansion of a high pressure fluid is used to operate the piston torotate the rotor via a power conversion device and expansion of a lowpressure fluid caused by a pressure reduction in the high pressure fluidis used to rotate the rotor via the vane, while when functioning as acompressing machine, rotation of the rotor is used to supply a lowpressure fluid to the side of the piston via the vane and the piston isoperated by the vane to convert the low pressure fluid to a highpressure fluid.

With the above first feature, the rotary type fluid machine having theexpanding function and compressing function can be provided, wherein thepiston is allowed for works on a high pressure side to achieveefficiency improvement by restraining leak loss, while the vane isallowed for works on a low pressure side to efficiently deal with alarge amount of flow.

To achieve the second object, according to a second feature of thepresent invention, there is proposed a vane type fluid machine,including a casing having a rotor chamber, a rotor accommodated in therotor chamber, and a plurality of vanes which are radially disposed inthe rotor around a rotary axis thereof and freely reciprocated in therespective radial directions, wherein a section of the rotor chamber ina phantom plane including the rotary axis of the rotor is formed of apair of semi-circular sections with diameters thereof opposed to eachother and a rectangular section formed by connecting opposed one ends ofboth the diameters to each other and opposed other ends of the diametersto each other, respectively, each of the vanes includes a vane body anda seal member mounted to the vane body and pressed against the rotorchamber with a spring force, and the seal member has a semi-circulararcuate portion sliding on the inner peripheral surface defined by thesemi-circular section of the rotor chamber and a pair of parallelportions respectively sliding on opposed inner end surfaces defined bythe rectangular section.

With the above second feature, the vane type fluid machine which hasgreatly increased sealing performance between the rotor chamber and thevane can be provided.

To achieve the first object, according to a third feature of the presentinvention, there is provided a waste heat recovering device for aninternal combustion engine having an evaporating machine using wasteheat from the internal combustion engine as a heat source to generatehigh pressure vapor, an expanding machine for generating an output byexpansion of the high pressure vapor, and a condensing machine forliquefying low pressure vapor exhausted from the expanding machine,characterized in that the expanding machine includes a casing having arotor chamber, a rotor accommodated in the rotor chamber, and aplurality of vane-piston units which are radially disposed in the rotoraround a rotary axis thereof and freely reciprocated in the respectiveradial directions, each of the vane-piston units including a vanesliding in the rotor chamber and a piston placed in abutment against anon-slide side of the vane, expansion of the high pressure vapor beingused to operate the piston to rotate the rotor via the vane, andexpansion of a low pressure gas caused by a pressure reduction in thehigh pressure gas being used to rotate the rotor via the vane.

With the above third feature, in the expanding machine, when the pistonis allowed for works on a high pressure side as described above,efficiency can be increased by restraining leak loss, while when thevane is allowed for works on a low pressure side, a large amount of flowcan be efficiently dealt with. This permits extracting a high outputfrom the waste heat of the internal combustion engine.

To achieve the second object, according to a fourth feature of thepresent invention, there is proposed a waste heat recovering device foran internal combustion engine having an evaporating machine using wasteheat from the internal combustion engine as a heat source to generatehigh pressure vapor, an expanding machine for generating an output byexpansion of the high pressure vapor, and a condensing machine forliquefying low pressure vapor exhausted from the expanding machine,characterized in that the expanding machine includes a casing having arotor chamber, a rotor accommodated in the rotor chamber, and aplurality of vanes which are radially disposed in the rotor around arotary axis thereof and freely reciprocated in the respective radialdirections, a section of the rotor chamber in a phantom plane includingthe rotary axis of the rotor being formed of a pair of semi-circularsections with diameters thereof opposed to each other and a rectangularsection formed by connecting opposed one ends of both the diameters toeach other and opposed other ends of the diameters to each other,respectively, each of the vanes including a vane body and a seal membermounted to the vane body and pressed against the rotor chamber with aspring force, and the seal member having a semi-circular arcuate portionsliding on the inner peripheral surface defined by the semi-circularsection of the rotor chamber and a pair of parallel portionsrespectively sliding on opposed inner end surfaces defined by therectangular section.

With the above fourth feature, in the vane type expanding machine,sealing performance between the rotor chamber and the vane can besufficiently increased to greatly improve efficiency under a highpressure.

To achieve the third object, according to a fifth feature of the presentinvention, there is proposed a rotary type fluid machine having anexpanding function and a compressing function including a casing havinga rotor chamber, a rotor accommodated in the rotor chamber, and aplurality of vane-piston units which are radially disposed in the rotoraround a rotary axis thereof and freely reciprocated in the respectiveradial directions, each of the vane-piston units including a vanesliding in the rotor chamber and a piston placed in abutment against anon-slide side of the vane, and when functioning as an expandingmachine, expansion of a high pressure fluid being used to operate thepiston to rotate the rotor via a power conversion device and expansionof a low pressure fluid caused by a pressure reduction in the highpressure fluid being used to rotate the rotor via the vane, while whenfunctioning as a compressing machine, rotation of the rotor being usedto supply a low pressure fluid to the side of the piston via the vaneand the piston being operated by the vane to convert the low pressurefluid to a high pressure fluid, characterized in that the rotary typefluid machine includes fluid exhausting means for maintaining airtightbetween the piston and cylinder during a stroke of the piston sliding inthe cylinder formed in the rotor, and for exhausting a fluid stored inthe cylinder at a stroke end of the piston outside the cylinder.

With the above fifth feature, even when water used as a lubricatingmedium permeates the cylinder or even when the high temperature and highpressure vapor in the cylinder of the rotor is condensed to be liquefiedat the time of low temperature actuation or the like of the rotary typefluid machine which functions as the expanding machine, water trapped inthe cylinder can be rapidly exhausted outward at the stroke end of thepiston by the fluid exhausting means and inhibition of normal operationof the piston in the cylinder can reliably be prevented.

To achieve the fourth object, according to a sixth feature of thepresent invention, there is proposed a rotary type fluid machine havingan expanding function and a compressing function, including a casinghaving a rotor chamber, a rotor accommodated in the rotor chamber, and aplurality of vane-piston units which are radially disposed in the rotoraround a rotary axis thereof and freely reciprocated in the respectiveradial directions, each of the vane-piston units including a vanesliding in the rotor chamber and a piston placed in abutment against anon-slide side of the vane, when functioning as an expanding machine,expansion of a high pressure fluid being used to operate the piston torotate the rotor via a power conversion device and expansion of a lowpressure fluid caused by a pressure reduction in the high pressure fluidbeing used to rotate the rotor via the vane, while when functioning as acompressing machine, rotation of the rotor being used to supply a lowpressure fluid to the side of the piston via the vane and the pistonbeing operated by the vane to convert the low pressure fluid to a highpressure fluid, characterized in that first passages for supplying andexhausting a high pressure fluid to a cylinder formed in the rotor andsecond passages for supplying and exhausting a low pressure fluid fromthe cylinder to a rotor chamber are formed in a fixed shaft, and that aswitchover mechanism which is rotated integrally with the rotor toselectively connect the first passages or the second passages to thecylinder is fitted rotatably and in a sealing condition relative to thefixed shaft.

According to the sixth feature, a switchover mechanism which is rotatedintegrally with the rotor to selectively communicate the first passagesor the second passages to the cylinder is fitted rotatably and in asealing condition relative to the fixed shaft. Therefore, a leak of thehigh pressure fluid can reliably be prevented with a simple structureincluding a reduced number of components, requiring no special urgingmeans such as a spring or bellows, simply by controlling clearancebetween the fixed shaft and switchover mechanism.

To achieve the fourth object, according to a seventh feature of thepresent invention, there is proposed a rotary type fluid machine havingan expanding function and a compressing function, including a casinghaving a rotor chamber, a rotor accommodated in the rotor chamber, and aplurality of vane-piston units which are radially disposed in the rotoraround a rotary axis thereof and freely reciprocated in the respectiveradial directions, each of the vane-piston units including a vanesliding in the rotor chamber and a piston placed in abutment against anon-slide side of the vane, when functioning as an expanding machine,expansion of a high pressure fluid being used to operate the piston torotate the rotor via a power conversion device and expansion of a lowpressure fluid caused by a pressure reduction in the high pressure fluidbeing used to rotate the rotor via the vane, while when functioning as acompressing machine, rotation of the rotor being used to supply a lowpressure fluid to the side of the piston via the vane and the pistonbeing operated by the vane to convert the low pressure fluid to a highpressure fluid, characterized in that first passages for supplying andexhausting a high pressure fluid to a cylinder formed in the rotor andsecond passages for supplying and exhausting a low pressure fluid fromthe cylinder to a rotor chamber are formed in a fixed shaft, that aswitch over mechanism which is rotated integrally with the rotor toselectively communicate the first passages or the second passages to thecylinder is fitted rotatably and in a sealing condition relative to thefixed shaft, and that port grooves surrounding outer peripheries of thefirst passages are formed on a slide surface between the fixed shaft andswitchover mechanism.

With the above seventh feature, a switchover mechanism which is rotatedintegrally with the rotor to selectively communicate the first passagesor the second passages to the cylinder is fitted rotatably and in asealing condition relative to the fixed shaft, and the port groovessurrounding the outer peripheries of the first passages are formed on aslide surface between the fixed shaft and the switchover mechanism.Therefore, even when the high pressure fluid supplied from the firstpassages is leaked without flowing into the cylinder via the switchovermechanism, or even when the high pressure fluid compressed by the pistonis leaked without being supplied to the first passages, the highpressure fluid can be captured by the port grooves to minimize anoutward leak, thus when using the rotary type fluid machine as theexpanding machine, improvement in output performance can be achieved,and when using the rotary type fluid machine as the compressing machine,improvement in compressing performance can be achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 to 11 show a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a waste heat recovering device for aninternal combustion engine;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of an expanding machine (a sectionalview taken along a line 2—2 in FIG. 5);

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of around a rotary axis in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4—4 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of an essential part taken along aline 5—5 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of sectional configurations of a rotorchamber and a rotor;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a vane body;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the vane body;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along a line 9—9 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a front view of a seal member; and

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of around a rotary axis in FIG. 4.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are explanatory views of water exhaust action of acylinder according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 13A to 14 show a third embodiment of the present invention,wherein: FIGS. 13A and 13B are explanatory views of water exhaust actionof a cylinder; and

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along a line 14—14 of FIG. 13B.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are explanatory views of water exhaust action of acylinder according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view of water exhaust timing of the second tofourth embodiments.

FIGS. 17 to 21 show a fifth embodiment of the present invention,wherein:

FIG. 17 is an enlarged sectional view of around a rotary axiscorresponding to FIG. 3;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of around a rotary axis corresponding toFIG. 11;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of a part 19 in FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 is an enlarged sectional view taken along a line 20—20 in FIG.19; and

FIG. 21 is an enlarged sectional view taken along a line 21—21 of FIG.19.

FIGS. 22 to 25 show a sixth embodiment of the present invention,wherein: FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of around a rotary axiscorresponding to FIG. 11;

FIG. 23 is a view taken along a line 23—23 of FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is an enlarged view corresponding to an essential part of FIG.3; and

FIG. 25 is a view of a state where a fixed shaft in FIG. 24 is notbroken.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described onthe basis of FIGS. 1 to 11.

In FIG. 1, a waste heat recovering device 2 of an internal combustionengine 1 comprises an evaporating machine 3 for generating high pressurevapor, that is, high temperature and high pressure vapor, generated byincreasing temperature of high pressure liquid, for example, water,using waste heat, for example, the exhaust gas of the internalcombustion engine as a heat source, an expanding machine 4 forgenerating an output by expansion of the high temperature and highpressure vapor, a condensing machine 5 for liquefying the vapor, whichis exhausted from the expanding machine 4, with reduced temperature andpressure after the expansion, that is, reduced temperature and reducedpressure vapor, and a supply pump 6 for pressurizing and supplyingliquid, for example, water, from the condensing machine 5 to theevaporating machine 3.

The expanding machine 4 has a specific structure and is configured asfollows.

In FIGS. 2 to 5, a casing 7 comprises first and second half bodies 8,9made of metal. Each of the half bodies 8,9 comprises a main body 11having a substantially oval recess and a circular flange 12 integralwith the main body 11, and the circular flanges 12 are superposed via ametal gasket 13 to form a substantially oval rotor chamber 14. An outersurface of the main body 11 of the first half body 8 is covered with amain body 16, in the form of a deep bowl, of a shell-shaped member 15, acircular flange 17 integral with the main body 16 is superposed on thecircular flange 12 of the first half body 8 via a gasket 18, and threecircular flanges 12, 12, 17 are fastened by a bolt 19 at a plurality ofcircumferential positions. A junction chamber 20 is thereby formedbetween the main bodies 11 and 16 of the shell-shaped member 15 and thefirst half body 8.

The main bodies 11 of the half bodies 8, 9 have hollow shaft receivingtubes 21, 22 projecting outwardly at their outer surfaces, and by thehollow shaft receiving tubes 21 22, a large diameter portion 24 of ahollow output shaft 23 penetrating the rotor chamber 14 is turnablysupported via a bearing metal (or bearing made of resin) 25. An axis Lof the output shaft 23 thereby passes an intersection point of a longdiameter and a short diameter in the substantially oval rotor chamber14. A small diameter portion 26 of the output shaft 23 projectsoutwardly beyond a hole 27 at the hollow shaft receiving tube 22 of thesecond half body 9 and is connected to a transmission shaft 28 viaspline coupling 29. The small diameter portion 26 and the hole 27 aresealed by two seal rings 30.

Accommodated in the rotor chamber 14 is a circular rotor 31, and a shaftmounting hole 32 at its center is in a fitted relationship to the largediameter portion 24 of the output shaft 23 to provide an engagementportion 33 between the two 31, 24. A rotary axis of the rotor 31 therebymatches the axis L of the output shaft 23, thus “L” is commonly used asreference character of the rotary axis.

The rotor 31 is formed with a plurality of, in this embodiment twelve,slot-shaped spaces 34 radially extending from the shaft mounting hole 32about the rotary axis L at even intervals on the circumference. Eachspace 34 is circumferentially narrow and in substantially U shape in aphantom plane perpendicular to both end surfaces 35 so as tosequentially open into the both end surfaces 35 and an outer peripheralsurface 36 of the rotor 31.

In the respective slot-shaped spaces 34, first to twelfth vane-pistonunits U1-U12 with the same structure are mounted so as to freelyreciprocate in the respective radial directions as follows. The space 34of substantially U shape is formed with a stepped hole 38 at a portion37 comparting the inner peripheral side of the space 34, and a steppedcylinder member 39 made of ceramic (or carbon) is fitted in the steppedhole 38. An end surface of a small diameter portion a of the cylindermember 39 abuts against an outer peripheral surface of the largediameter portion 24 of the output shaft 23, and a small diameter hole bthereof communicates with a through-hole c opening into the outerperipheral surface of the large diameter portion 24. A guide tube 40 isdisposed outside the cylinder member 39 so as to be positioned coaxiallywith the member 39. An outer end of the guide tube 40 is locked by anopening of the space 34 on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor 31,and an inner end of the guide tube 40 is fitted in a large diameter holed of the stepped hole 38 to abut against the cylinder member 39. Theguide tube 40 has a pair of slots e extending from its outer end toaround its inner end in an opposed manner, and both slots e face thespace 34. A piston 41 made of ceramic is slidably fitted in a largediameter cylinder hole f of the cylinder member 39, and a tip side ofthe piston 41 is always positioned in the guide tube 40.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, a section B of the rotor chamber 14 in aphantom plane A including the rotary axis L of the rotor 31 is formed ofa pair of semi-circular sections B1 with their diameters g opposed toeach other and a rectangular section B2 formed by connecting opposed oneends of diameters g of semi-circular sections B1 to each other andopposed other ends of the diameters g to each other, respectively, andis substantially in the form of an athletic track. In FIG. 6, a partillustrated by a solid line shows the largest section including the longdiameter, while a part partially illustrated by a double-dotted chainline shows the smallest section including the short diameter. The rotor31 has a section D slightly smaller than the smallest section includingthe short diameter of the rotor chamber 14, as shown by a dotted line inFIG. 6.

As is clearly shown in FIGS. 2, 7 to 10, a vane 42 comprises a vane body43 in the form of substantially U-shaped plate (horseshoe shape), a sealmember 44 in the form of substantially U-shaped plate mounted to thevane body 43, and a vane spring 58.

The vane body 43 has a semi-circular arcuate portion 46 corresponding toan inner peripheral surface 45 by the semi-circular section B1 of therotor chamber 14, and a pair of parallel portions 48 corresponding toopposed inner end surfaces 47 by the rectangular section B2. Eachparallel portion 48 is provided, at its end side, with a rectangularnotch 49, a rectangular blind hole 50 opening into the bottom surface,and a short shaft 51 located at a side closer to the end than therectangular notch 49 and protruding outwards. Outer peripheral portionsof the semi-circular arcuate portion 46 and both parallel portions 48are sequentially formed with U-shaped grooves 52 opening outwardly, andboth ends of the U-shaped grooves 52 respectively communicate with bothrectangular notches 49. Further, both plane parts of the semi-circulararcuate portion 46 are respectively provided with a pair of projectingstrips 53 having broken circular sections. Both projecting strips 53 aredisposed such that an axis L1 of a phantom cylinder thereby matches astraight line which bisects a space between the parallel portions 48 andcircumferentially bisects the semi-circular arcuate portion 46. Innerends of the projecting strips 53 slightly project into the space betweenthe parallel portions 48.

The seal member 44 is made of PTFE, for example, and has a semi-circulararcuate portion 55 sliding on the inner peripheral surface 45 by thesemi-circular section B1 of the rotor chamber 14 and a pair of parallelportions 56 sliding on the opposed inner end surfaces 47 by therectangular section B2. Further, a pair of elastic pawls 57 is providedon an inner peripheral surface side of the semi-circular arcuate portion55 so as to be deflected inwardly.

The seal member 44 is mounted to the U-shaped groove 52 of the vane body43, a vane spring 58 is fitted in each blind hole 50, and further aroller 59 with a ball bearing structure is mounted to each short shaft51. Each vane 42 is slidably accommodated in each slot-shaped space 34of the rotor 31, where both projecting strips 53 of the vane body 43 arepositioned in the guide tube 40 and both side portions of the projectingstrips 53 are respectively positioned in both slots e of the guide tube40, thereby allowing the inner end surfaces of the projecting strips 53to abut against the outer end surface of the piston 41. Both rollers 59are respectively placed in rotatable engagement with a substantiallyoval annular groove 60 formed on the opposed inner end surfaces 47 ofthe first and second half bodies 8, 9. A distance between the annulargroove 60 and the rotor chamber 14 is constant throughout theircircumferences. Forward motion of the piston 41 is converted to rotarymotion of the rotor 31 via the vane 42 by engagement between the roller59 and the annular groove 60.

By the roller 59 cooperating with the annular groove 60, as clearlyshown in FIG. 5, a semi-circular arcuate tip surface 61 on thesemi-circular arcuate portion 46 of the vane body 43 is always spacedapart from the inner peripheral surface 45 of the rotor chamber 14, andthe parallel portions 48 are always spaced apart from the opposed innerend surface 47 of the rotor chamber 14, thereby reducing frictionlosses. Since a track is regulated by the annular grooves 60 formed oftwo strips in a pair, the vane 42 is axially rotated at a minutedisplacement angle via the roller 59 by an error between right and lefttracks, and a contact pressure with the inner peripheral surface 45 ofthe rotor chamber 14 is increased. At this time, in the vane body 43 inthe form of substantially U-shaped plate (horseshoe shape), a radiallength of a contact portion with the casing 7 is shorter than that in asquare (rectangular) vane, so that the displacement amount can besubstantially reduced. As is clearly shown in FIG. 2, in the seal member44, the parallel portions 56 are brought into close contact with theopposed inner end surfaces 47 of the rotor chamber 14 by a spring forceof each vane spring 58, and especially exert seal action on the annulargroove 60 via ends of the parallel portions 56 and the vane 42. Thesemi-circular arcuate portion 55 is brought into close contact with theinner peripheral surface 45 by the elastic pawls 57 pressed between thevane body 43 and the inner peripheral surface 45 in the rotor chamber14. That is, the vane 42 in the form of substantially U-shaped plate(horseshoe shape) has less inflection point than the square(rectangular) vane, which allows good close contact. The square vane hascorners, which makes it difficult to maintain the sealing performance.The sealing performance between the vane 42 and the rotor chamber 14thereby becomes good. Further, the vane 42 and the rotor chamber 14 aredeformed concurrently with thermal expansion. At this time, the vane 42of substantially U shape is deformed with evener similar figures thanthe square vane, thereby reducing variation of clearance between thevane 42 and rotor chamber 14 and allowing good sealing performance to bemaintained.

In FIGS. 2, 3, the large diameter portion 24 of the output shaft 23 hasa thick portion 62 supported by the bearing metal 25 of the second halfbody 9 and a thin portion 63 extending from the thick portion 62 andsupported by the bearing metal 25 of the first half body 8. In the thinportion 63, a hollow shaft 64 made of ceramic (or metal) is fitted so asto be rotated integrally with the output shaft 23. Inside the hollowshaft 64, a fixed shaft 65 is disposed, which comprises a large diametersolid portion 66 fitted to the hollow shaft 64 so as to be fitted in anaxial thickness of the rotor 31, a small diameter solid portion 69fitted to a hole 67 at the thick portion 62 of the output shaft 23 viatwo seal rings 68, and a thin hollow portion 70 extending from the largediameter solid portion 66 and fitted in the hollow shaft 64. A seal ring71 is interposed between an end outer peripheral surface of the hollowportion 70 and the inner peripheral surface of the hollow shaftreceiving tube 21 of the first half body 8.

The main body 16 of the shell-shaped member 15 is mounted, at its innersurface of the central portion, with an end wall 73 of a hollow tube 72coaxial with the output shaft 23 via a seal ring 74. An inner end sideof a short outer tube 75 extending inwardly from an outer peripheralportion of the end wall 73 is coupled with the hollow shaft receivingtube 21 of the first half body 8 via a coupling tube 76. On the end wall73, an inner pipe 77 which has a small diameter and is long is providedso as to penetrate the same, and an inner end side of the inner pipe 77is fitted to a stepped hole h at the large diameter solid portion 66 ofthe fixed shaft 65 together with a short hollow connection pipe 78projecting therefrom. An outer end portion of the inner pipe 77 projectsoutwardly from a hole 79 of the shell-shaped member 15, and an inner endside of a first introduction pipe 80 for high temperature and highpressure vapor inserted from the outer end portion into the inner pipe77 is fitted in the hollow connection pipe 78. A cap member 81 isscrewed on the outer end portion of the inner pipe 77, and by the capmember 81, a flange 83 of a holder tube 82 for holding the introductionpipe 80 is fixed by pressure to the outer end surface of the inner pipe77 via a seal ring 84.

As is shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, and 11, the large diameter solid portion 66of the fixed shaft 65 is provided with a rotary valve V which supplieshigh temperature and high pressure vapor to the cylinder member 39 ofthe first to twelfth vane-piston units U1-U12 through a plurality of, inthis embodiment twelve, through-holes c successively formed on thehollow shaft 64 and the output shaft 23, and exhausts first reducedtemperature and reduced pressure vapor after expansion from the cylindermember 39 through the through-holes c, as follows.

FIG. 11 shows a structure of the rotary valve V which supplies andexhausts the vapor to and from each cylinder member 39 of the expandingmachine 4 with predetermined timing. In the large diameter solid portion66, first and second holes 86, 87 extending in opposite directions toeach other from a space 85 which communicates with the hollow connectionpipe 78 are formed, and the first and second holes 86, 87 open intobottom surfaces of first and second recesses 88, 89 opening into theouter peripheral surface of the large diameter solid portion 66. Firstand second seal blocks 92, 93 made of carbon having supply ports 90, 91are mounted with the first and second recesses 88, 89, and their outerperipheral surfaces are rubbed against the inner peripheral surface ofthe hollow shaft 64. In the first and second holes 86, 87, first andsecond supply pipes 94, 95 which are coaxial and short are insertedloosely, and taper outer peripheral surfaces i, j of first and secondseal tubes 96, 97 fitted to tip side outer peripheral surfaces of thefirst and second supply pipes 94, 95 are fitted to inner peripheralsurfaces of taper holes k, m inside the supply ports 90, 91 of the firstand second seal blocks 92, 93 and connected thereto. The large diametersolid portion 66 is formed with first and second annular recesses n, osurrounding the first and second supply pipes 94, 95 and first andsecond blind-hole-shaped recesses p, q adjacent thereto so as to facethe first and second seal blocks 92, 93, and in the first and secondannular recesses n, o, first and second bellows-shaped elastic bodies98, 99 with one end side fitted to the outer peripheral surfaces of thefirst and second seal tubes 96, 97 are accommodated, in the first andsecond blind-hole-shaped recesses p, q, first and second coil springs100, 101 are fitted, and the first and second seal blocks 92, 93 arepressed against the inner peripheral surface of the hollow shaft 64 byspring forces of the first and second bellows-shaped elastic bodies 98,99 and the first and second coil springs 100, 101.

In the large diameter solid portion 66, formed between the first coilspring 100 and the second bellows-shaped elastic body 99, and betweenthe second coil spring 101 and the first bellows-shaped elastic body 98are first and second recess-shaped exhaust portions 102, 103 alwayscommunicating with two through-holes c and first and second exhaustholes 104, 105 extending from the exhaust portions 102, 103 in parallelwith the introduction pipe 80 and opening into a hollow portion r of thefixed shaft 65.

The members such as the first seal block 92 and second seal block 93which are of the same kind and given a word “first” and a word “second”are in a point symmetrical relationship with respect to the axis of thefixed shaft 65.

There is a passage s of the first reduced temperature and reducedpressure vapor in the hollow portion r of the fixed shaft 65 and in theouter tube 75 of the hollow tube 72, and the passage s communicates withthe junction chamber 20 via a plurality of through-holes t penetrating aperipheral wall of the outer tube 75.

As described above, the rotary valve V is disposed at the center of theexpanding machine 4, and the high temperature and high pressure vaporsupplied through the inside of the fixed shaft 65 disposed at the centerof the rotary valve V is distributed to each cylinder member 39concurrently with rotation of the rotor 31, which eliminates the needfor intake and exhaust valves used in a general piston mechanisms tosimplify the structure. Since the fixed shaft 65 and the hollow shaft 64mutually slide at a small diameter portion with low peripheral velocity,the rotary valve V can have both sealing performance and wearresistance.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, in the outer peripheral portion of the mainbody 11 of the first half body 8, formed around both ends of the shortdiameter of the rotor chamber 14 are first and second introduction holegroups 107, 108 formed of a plurality of introduction holes 106 alignedin the radial directions, and the first reduced temperature and reducedpressure vapor in the junction chamber 20 is introduced into the rotorchamber 14 via the introduction hole groups 107, 108. In the outerperipheral portion of the main body 11 of the second half body 9, formedbetween an end of the long diameter of the rotor chamber 14 and thesecond introduction hole group 108 is a first leading hole group 110formed of a plurality of leading holes 109 aligned in the radial andperipheral directions, and formed between the other end of the longdiameter and the first introduction hole group 107 is a second leadinghole group 111 formed of a plurality of leading holes 109 aligned in theradial and peripheral directions. From the first and second leading holegroups 110, 111, second reduced temperature and reduced pressure vaporwith further reduced temperature and pressure is exhausted outside byexpansion between the adjacent vanes 42.

The output shaft 23 or the like is lubricated by water, and thelubricating passage is configured as follows. That is, as shown in FIGS.2 and 3, a water supply pipe 113 is connected to a water supply hole 112formed in the hollow shaft receiving tube 22 of the second half body 9.The water supply hole 112 communicates with a housing 114 which thebearing metal 25 of the second half body 9 side faces, the housing 114communicates with a water passing hole u formed in the thick portion 62of the output shaft 23, the water passing hole u communicates with aplurality of water passing grooves v extending in a generatrix directionof the outer peripheral surface of the hollow shaft 64 (see also FIG.11), and further each water passing groove v communicates with a housing115 which the bearing metal 25 of the second half body 8 side faces. Aninner end surface of the thick portion 62 of the output shaft 23 isprovided with an annular recess which communicates the water passinghole u to a slide portion between the hollow shaft 64 and the largediameter solid portion 66 of the fixed shaft 65.

This causes lubrication between each bearing metal 25 and the outputshaft 23, and between the hollow shaft 64 and fixed shaft 65 by water,and lubrication among the casing 7 and the seal member 44 and eachroller 59 by water having permeated the rotor chamber 14 from the spacebetween the bearing metals 25 and output shaft 23.

In FIG. 4, the first and seventh vane-piston units U1, U7 in a pointsymmetrical relationship with respect to the rotary axis L of the rotor31 operate in the same way. This applies to the second and eighthvane-piston units U2, U8 and the like in the point symmetricalrelationship.

For example, also referring to FIG. 11, an axis of a first supply pipe94 is slightly shifted in a counterclockwise direction with respect to ashort diameter position E of the rotor chamber 14 in FIG. 4, the firstvane-piston unit U1 is located in the short diameter position E and thehigh temperature and high pressure vapor is not supplied to the largediameter cylinder hole f, and therefore it is assumed that the piston 41and vane 42 are located in a backward position.

From this condition, the rotor 31 is slightly rotated in thecounterclockwise direction in FIG. 4, the supply port 90 of the firstseal block 92 communicates with the through-hole c, and the hightemperature and high pressure vapor from the introduction pipe 80 isintroduced in the large diameter cylinder hole f through a smalldiameter hole b. This causes forward motion of the piston 41, and sincethe vane 42 slides toward the long diameter position F of the rotorchamber 14, the forward motion is converted to rotary motion of therotor 31 by engagement between the annular groove 60 and the roller 59integral with the vane 42 via the vane 42. When the through-hole c isshifted from the supply port 90, the high temperature and high pressurevapor expands in the large diameter cylinder hole f to further moveforward the piston 41, and thus the rotation of the rotor 31 iscontinued. The expansion of the high temperature and high pressure vaporends when the first vane-piston unit U1 reaches the long diameterposition F of the rotor chamber 14. Then, by the piston 41 movedbackward by the vane 42, the first reduced temperature and reducedpressure vapor in the large diameter cylinder hole f is exhausted to thejunction chamber 20 through a small diameter hole b, through-hole c,first recess-shaped exhaust portion 102, first exhaust hole 104, passages (see FIG. 3), and each through-hole t with the rotation of the rotor31, and is then introduced in the rotor chamber 14 through the firstintroduction hole group 107, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, and furtherexpands between the adjacent vanes 42 to rotate the rotor 31, and thenthe second reduced temperature and reduced pressure vapor is exhaustedoutwards from the first leading hole group 110.

In this way, by operating the piston 41 by the expansion of the hightemperature and high pressure vapor to rotate the rotor 31 via the vane42, and by rotating the rotor 31 via the vane 42 by the expansion of thereduced temperature and reduced pressure vapor caused by a pressurereduction in the high temperature and high pressure vapor, an output canbe obtained by the output shaft 23.

As a configuration for converting the forward motion of the piston 41 tothe rotary motion of the rotor 31 other than the embodiment, the forwardmotion of the piston 41 may be received directly by the roller 59without the vane 42, and converted to the rotary motion by theengagement with the annular groove 60. The vane 42 may be always spacedapart at a substantially constant interval from the inner peripheralsurface 45 and the opposed inner end surfaces 47 of the rotor chamber 14by the cooperation of the roller 59 and the annular groove 60, asdescribed above, and the piston 41 and roller 59, and the vane 42 androller 59, respectively may especially cooperate with the annular groove60.

When using the expanding machine 4 as a compressing machine, the rotor31 is rotated in a clockwise direction in FIG. 4 by the output shaft 23,outside air as fluid is sucked from the first and second leading holegroups 110, 111 into the rotor chamber 14 by the vane 42, and lowpressure air thus obtained is supplied from the first and secondintroduction hole groups 107, 108 to the large diameter cylinder hole fthrough the junction chamber 20, each through-hole t, passage s, firstand second exhaust holes 104, 105, first and second recess-shapedexhaust portions 102, 103, and through-hole c, and the piston 41 isoperated by the vane 42 to convert the low pressure air to high pressureair, and the high pressure air is introduced in the introduction pipe 80through the through-hole c, the supply ports 90, 91 and the first andsecond supply pipes 94, 95.

Using the above-described various components, a vane type fluid machine,for example, a vane pump, vane motor, fan, vane compressing machine, orthe like can be formed as clearly shown by FIG. 5. That is, the vanetype fluid machine comprises the casing 7 having the rotor chamber 14,the rotor 31 accommodated in the rotor chamber 14 and a plurality ofvanes 42 which are radially disposed in the rotor 31 around the rotaryaxis L thereof and is freely reciprocated in the respective radialdirections, and the section B of the rotor chamber 14 in the phantomplane A including the rotary axis L of the rotor 31 is formed of a pairof semi-circular sections B1 with their diameters g opposed to eachother, and a rectangular section B2 formed by connecting opposed oneends of both the diameters 9 to each other and opposed other ends of thediameters to each other, respectively, and each vane 42 comprises thevane body 43 and the seal member 44 which is mounted on the vane body 43and pressed against the rotor chamber 14 by a spring force, centrifugalforce and vapor force, and the seal member 44 has the semi-circulararcuate portion 55 sliding on the inner peripheral surface 45 by thesemi-circular section B1 of the rotor chamber 14 and a pair of parallelportions 56 sliding on the opposed inner end surfaces 47 by therectangular section B2. In this case, each vane body 43 has a pair ofparallel portions 48 corresponding to both the parallel portions 56 ofthe seal member 44, and the rollers 59 provided in the parallel portions48 are respectively placed in rotatable engagement with both the annulargrooves 60 formed on the opposite inner end surfaces 47 of the casing 7in order that a tip end surface of each vane body 43 is always spacedapart from the inner peripheral surface 45 of the rotor chamber 14.

Therefore, a seal action between the vane body 43 and the innerperipheral surface of the rotor chamber 14 is generated by the springforce of the seal member 44 per se, centrifugal force exerted on theseal member 44 per se and vapor pressure which vapor permeating theU-shaped groove 52 of the vane body 43, from the rotor chamber 14 onhigh pressure side pushes up the seal member 44. In this way, the sealaction is not influenced by excessive centrifugal force exerted on thevane body 43 depending on the number of rotation of the rotor 31, sothat seal surface pressure can have both good sealing performance and alow friction property independent of the centrifugal force exerted onthe vane body 43.

It should be noted here that each machine disclosed in the JapanesePatent Application Laid-open No. 59-41602 and the Japanese PatentApplication Laid-open No. 60-206990 comprises a plurality of vane typerotary machines disposed inside and outside in the radial directions,and the vane type rotary machine has a simple structure of a conversionmechanism between pressure energy and mechanical energy and can dealwith a large flow amount of working fluid with a compact structure,while there is a problem that a large leak amount of the working fluidfrom a slide portion of the vane makes it difficult to increaseefficiency.

A radial plunger pump disclosed in the Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-open No. 64-29676 has high sealing performance of a working fluidbecause the working fluid is compressed by a piston slidably fitted tothe cylinder, and can minimize an efficiency reduction due to a leakeven when using a high pressure working fluid, while there is a problemthat a crank mechanism or a slanting mechanism for convertingreciprocating motion of the piston to rotary motion is required, whichmakes the structure complex.

Therefore, it is desirable to make a rotary type fluid machine havemerits belonging to the piston type and merits belonging to the vanetype.

For this reason, in the above-described expanding machine 4, a firstenergy converting means including the cylinder member 39 and piston 41and a second energy converting means including the vane 42 are providedin the common rotor 31 and the high temperature and high pressure vaporenergy is extracted in the output shaft 23 as mechanical energy bycooperation of the first and second energy converting means connected inseries. Thus, the mechanical energy output by the first energyconverting means and the mechanical energy output by the second energyconverting means can be automatically integrated via the rotor 31, whicheliminates the need for special energy integrating means having powertransmitting means such as a gear.

The first energy converting means includes a combination of the cylinder39 piston 41 which can easily seal a working fluid and rarely causes aleak, thereby increasing the sealing performance of the high temperatureand high pressure vapor to permit minimizing an efficiency reduction dueto a leak. On the other hand, the second energy converting meansincludes the vane 42 supported by the rotor 31 movably in a radialdirection, so that the vapor pressure exerted on the vane 42 is directlyconverted to rotary motion of the rotor 31, which eliminates the needfor a special conversion mechanism for converting the reciprocatingmotion to rotary motion to simplify the structure. Further, the secondenergy converting means which can effectively convert vapor with lowpressure and a large amount of flow to mechanical energy is disposed soas to surround an outer periphery of the first energy converting means,which permits making the whole expanding machine 4 compact.

The first energy converting means including the cylinder 39 and piston41 has a feature of high converting efficiency between the pressureenergy and mechanical energy when the high temperature and high pressurevapor is the working fluid, and the second energy converting meansincluding the vane 42 has a feature of high converting efficiencybetween the pressure energy and mechanical energy even when relativelylow temperature and low pressure vapor is the working fluid. Thus, thefirst and second energy converting means are connected in series, thehigh temperature and high pressure vapor is first passed through thefirst energy converting means to be converted to the mechanical energy,first reduced temperature and reduced pressure vapor with the resultantreduced pressure is passed through the second energy converting means tobe converted again to the mechanical energy, thereby allowing the energycontained in the original high temperature and high pressure vapor to befully and effectively converted to the mechanical energy.

Meanwhile, even when the expanding machine 4 of this embodiment is usedas a compressing machine, air sucked into the rotor chamber 14 byrotating the rotor 31 with external mechanical energy is compressed bythe second energy converting means which effectively operates by arelatively low temperature and low pressure working fluid to haveelevated temperature, and the compressed and temperature elevated air isfurther compressed by the first energy converting means whicheffectively operates by a relatively high temperature and high pressureworking fluid to have elevated temperature, thereby permitting efficientconversion of the mechanical energy to the pressure energy (heat energy)of compressed air. Thus, by a combination of the first energy convertingmeans including the cylinder 39 and piston 41 with the second energyconverting means including the vane 42, a high performance rotary typefluid machine having both features can be obtained.

The rotary axis L of the rotor 31 (that is, the rotary axis L of theoutput shaft 23) matches the center of the rotor chamber 14, and whenthe rotor 31 is divided into four by 90° in every direction in FIGS. 4and 5, the pressure energy is converted to the mechanical energy in anupper right quarter part and a lower left quarter part point-symmetricalwith respect to the rotary axis L, thereby preventing an offset loadfrom being exerted on the rotor 31 to restrain occurrence of vibration.That is, a part where the pressure energy of the working fluid isconverted to the mechanical energy, or apart where the mechanical energyis converted to the pressure energy of the working fluid is disposed attwo positions which are shifted by 180° around the rotary axis L of therotor 31, so that the load applied to the rotor 31 becomes couple topermit smooth rotation and increased efficiency of intake timing andexhaust timing.

That is, in the rotary type fluid machine which includes at least firstand second energy converting means, which can function as an expandingmachine for integrating and outputting mechanical energy generated bythe first and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputtingthe working fluid having pressure energy in the first and second energyconverting means to convert the pressure energy to mechanical energy,and can function as a compressing machine for integrating and outputtingpressure energy of the working fluid generated by the first and secondenergy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanicalenergy in the first and second energy converting means to convert themechanical energy to pressure energy of the working fluid, the firstenergy converting means includes a cylinder radially formed in a rotorrotatably accommodated in a rotor chamber and a piston sliding in thecylinder, and the second energy converting means includes a vane whichradially moves into and out of the rotor and has its outer peripheralsurface in slidable contact with an inner peripheral surface of therotor chamber.

With the above-described first arrangement, the first energy convertingmeans includes the cylinder radially formed in the rotor rotatablyaccommodated-in the rotor chamber and the piston sliding in thecylinder, which permits increasing sealing performance of a highpressure working fluid to minimize an efficiency reduction due to aleak. Further, the second energy converting means includes the vanewhich is supported movably in a radial direction by the rotor and makesslidable contact with the inner peripheral surface of the rotor chamber,and thereby has a simple structure of a conversion mechanism between thepressure energy and mechanical energy and can deal with a large flowamount of working fluid with a compact structure. Thus, by thecombination of the first energy converting means including the pistonand cylinder with the second energy converting means including the vane,a high performance rotary type fluid machine having both features can beobtained.

In addition to the first arrangement, the first energy converting meansconverts between reciprocating motion of the piston and rotary motion ofthe rotary shaft and the second energy converting means converts betweencircumferential movement of the vane and the rotary motion of the rotaryshaft.

With the above-described second arrangement, the first energy convertingmeans converts between reciprocating motion of the piston and rotarymotion of the rotary shaft and the second energy converting meansconverts between circumferential movement of the vane and the rotarymotion of the rotary shaft, so that a fluid can be compressed by thefirst and second energy converting means by inputting an external forcefrom the rotary shaft, and the rotary shaft can be driven by the firstand second energy converting means by supplying a high pressure fluid.This allows the mechanical energy to be integrated and output by thefirst and second energy converting means, or allows the pressure energyof the working fluid to be integrated and output by the first and secondenergy converting means.

In addition to the second arrangement, the rotary shaft supports therotor.

With the above-described third arrangement, the rotor is supported bythe rotary shaft, so that the mechanical energy generated by the piston,cylinder or vane provided in the rotor can be efficiently output in therotary shaft and that the working fluid can be efficiently compressed bythe piston, cylinder or vane provided in the rotor supported by therotary shaft, simply by inputting the mechanical energy in the rotaryshaft.

In addition to the first arrangement, when functioning as the expandingmachine, the whole amount of the working fluid having passed through thefirst energy converting means passes through the second energyconverting means, and when functioning as the compressing machine, thewhole amount of the working fluid having passed through the secondenergy converting means passes through the first energy convertingmeans.

With the above-described fourth arrangement, the first and second energyconverting means are connected in series, and when functioning as theexpanding machine, the high pressure working fluid is first passedthrough the first energy converting means to convert part of thepressure energy to the mechanical energy, and the resultant reducedpressure working fluid is further passed through the second energyconverting means to convert balance of the pressure energy to themechanical energy, thereby permitting efficient conversion of thepressure energy of the working fluid to the mechanical energy. On theother hand, when functioning as the compressing machine, the rotaryshaft is rotated by the mechanical energy to compress the working fluidby the second energy converting means, and the compressed working fluidis further compressed by the first energy converting means, therebypermitting efficient conversion of the mechanical energy to the pressureenergy of the working fluid.

In addition to the first arrangement, when functioning as the expandingmachine, the pressure energy of the working fluid is converted to themechanical energy at two positions where the phases of the rotor areshifted by 180°, and when functioning as the compressing machine, themechanical energy is converted to the pressure energy of the workingfluid at two positions where the phases of the rotor are shifted by180°.

With the above-described fifth arrangement, the part where the pressureenergy of the working fluid is converted to the mechanical energy, orthe part where the mechanical energy is converted to the pressure energyof the working fluid are disposed at two positions where the phases ofthe rotor are shifted by 180°, so that the load exerted on the rotorbecomes couple to permit smooth rotation of the rotor and increasedefficiency of intake timing and exhaust timing.

Disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-41602 andthe Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-206990 are machineswhere in a vane is circumferentially pressed by pressure of a highpressure fluid to rotatably drive a rotor, or the rotor is rotatablydriven by an external force to compress the fluid by the vane, but in amachine which includes a piston slidably fitted to a cylinder radiallyprovided in the rotor other than the vane, and carries out conversion ofmechanical energy to pressure energy of a working fluid by the pistonassociating with the vane and reciprocating in the cylinder, there is aproblem that a mechanism (for example, a crank mechanism or a slantingmechanism) for converting the reciprocating motion of the piston to therotary motion of the rotor is required, which makes the structure of theentire device complex and thereby causes increased size and increasedweight.

Disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 57-16293 is amachine wherein a roller provided in an intermediate portion of eachvane is guided in engagement with a roller track provided in a casing,but the vane simply generates a circumferential load and does notgenerate a radial load, so that engagement between the roller and theroller track does not contribute to conversion between the mechanicalenergy and pressure energy of the working fluid.

Disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 64-29676 is aradial plunger pump, and a rotor is disposed in an offset manner in acircular cam ring, so that there is a problem that an offset load isapplied to the rotary shaft to cause vibration.

Thus, in the rotary type fluid machine including the piston and vanewhich are provided in the rotor and move integrally, it is desirablethat conversion between the mechanical energy and pressure energy of theworking fluid be smoothly carried out with a simple structure and that aclearance between the outer peripheral surface of the vane and the innerperipheral surface of the rotor chamber be appropriately controlled.

For this reason, in the above-described expanding machine 4, the firstenergy converting means including the cylinder member 39 and the piston41 and the second energy converting means including the vane 42 areprovided in the common rotor 31 and the high temperature and highpressure vapor energy is extracted in the output shaft 23 as themechanical energy by cooperation of the first and second energyconverting means. In the first energy converting means including thecylinder member 39 and the piston 41, the roller 59 provided invane-piston units U1-U12 radially reciprocated by the piston 41rotatably engage the substantially oval annular groove 60 provided inthe first and second half bodies 8, 9. Therefore, the reciprocatingmotion of the piston 41, that is, the reciprocating motion of thevane-piston units U1-U12 is converted to the rotary motion of the rotor31 via the roller 59 and the annular groove 60. Such use of the roller59 and annular groove 60 eliminates the need for the complex and largecrank mechanism or slanting mechanism for converting the reciprocatingmotion to the rotary motion, which permits simplifying the structure ofthe expanding machine 4 so as to be compact and minimizing energy lossdue to friction.

The second energy converting means formed of the vane 42 has anextremely simple structure which receives pressure of first reducedtemperature and reduced pressure vapor whose temperature and pressureare reduced by the first energy converting means to rotate the rotor 31,but can efficiently deal with a large flow amount of vapor. Byintegrating and outputting the mechanical energy output by the firstenergy converting means operated by the high temperature and highpressure vapor, and the mechanical energy output by the second energyconverting means operated by the first reduced temperature and reducedpressure vapor, the original energy of the high temperature and highpressure vapor can be fully utilized to permit increasing energyconverting efficiency of the expanding machine 4.

When the vane-piston units U1-U12 reciprocate in a radial direction withrespect to the rotor 31, guiding the roller 59 provided in thevane-piston units U1-U12 by the annular groove 60 permits ensuring aconstant clearance between the outer peripheral surface of the vane 42and the inner peripheral surface of the rotor chamber 14. Further, aseal action between the vane body 43 and the inner peripheral surface ofthe rotor chamber 14 is generated by the spring force of the seal member44 per se, centrifugal force applied to the seal member 44 per se andvapor pressure with which vapor permeating the U-shaped groove 52 of thevane body 43 from the rotor chamber 14 on high pressure side pushes upthe seal member 44. Therefore, the seal action is not influenced byexcessive centrifugal force applied to the vane body 43 depending on thenumber of rotation of the rotor 31, so that good sealing performance canbe compatible with a low friction property, thereby preventingoccurrence of abnormal friction and occurrence of friction loss due toexcessive surface pressure by the centrifugal force by the vane body 43between the vane 42 and rotor chamber 14, and minimizing occurrence of aleak of vapor from the clearance between the vane 42 and rotor chamber14.

The rotary axis L of the rotor 31 (that is, the rotary axis L of theoutput shaft 23) matches the center of the rotor chamber 14, and whenthe rotor 31 is divided into four by 90° in every direction in FIGS. 4and 5, the pressure energy is converted to the mechanical energy in anupper right quarter part and a lower left quarter part point-symmetricalwith respect to the rotary axis L, thereby preventing an offset loadfrom being applied to the rotor 31 to restrain occurrence of vibration.

That is, in the rotary type fluid machine which includes at least firstand second energy converting means, and can function as an expandingmachine for integrating and outputting mechanical energy generated byfirst and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputting theworking fluid having pressure energy in the first and second energyconverting means to convert the pressure energy to mechanical energy,and can function as a compressing machine for integrating and outputtingpressure energy of the working fluid generated by first and secondenergy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanicalenergy in the first and second energy converting means to convert themechanical energy to pressure energy of the working fluid, the firstenergy converting means including a cylinder radially formed in a rotorrotatably accommodated in a rotor chamber and a piston sliding in thecylinder, and the second energy converting means including a vane whichradially moves into and out of the rotor and has its outer peripheralsurface in slidable contact with an inner peripheral surface of therotor chamber, a roller associating with at least the piston isprovided, and by placing the roller in engagement with a non-circularannular groove formed in a casing comparting the rotor chamber, thereciprocating motion of the piston and rotary motion of the rotor aremutually converted.

With the above-described sixth arrangement, the roller associating withthe piston moving in the radial direction with respect to at least therotor rotating in the rotor chamber is provided, and the roller isplaced in engagement with the non-circular annular groove formed in thecasing comparting the rotor chamber, so that when functioning as theexpanding machine, the reciprocating motion of the piston can beconverted to the rotary motion of the rotor, and when functioning as thecompressing machine, the rotary motion of the rotor can be converted tothe reciprocating motion of the piston, with a simple structureincluding the roller and annular groove.

In the rotary type fluid machine which includes at least first andsecond energy converting means, and can function as an expanding machinefor integrating and outputting mechanical energy generated by first andsecond energy converting means, respectively, by inputting the workingfluid having pressure energy in the first and second energy convertingmeans to convert the pressure energy to mechanical energy, and which canfunction as a compressing machine for integrating and outputtingpressure energy of the working fluid generated by first and secondenergy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanicalenergy in the first and second energy converting means to convert themechanical energy to pressure energy of the working fluid, the firstenergy converting means including a cylinder radially formed in a rotorrotatably accommodated in a rotor chamber and a piston sliding in thecylinder, and the second energy converting means including a vane whichradially moves into and out of the rotor and has its outer peripheralsurface in slidable contact with an inner peripheral surface of therotor chamber, a roller associating with at least the vane is provided,and by placing the roller in engagement with a non-circular annulargroove formed in a casing comparting the rotor chamber, a clearancebetween the outer peripheral surface of the vane and the innerperipheral surface of the rotor chamber is regulated.

With the above-described seventh arrangement, the roller associatingwith the vane moving in a radial direction with respect to at least therotor rotating in the rotor chamber is provided, and the roller isplaced in engagement with the non-circular annular groove formed in thecasing comparting the rotor chamber, so that guiding a moving track ofthe roller with the annular groove can regulate the clearance betweenthe outer peripheral surface of the vane and the inner peripheralsurface of the rotor chamber to prevent occurrence of abnormal frictionand a leak.

In the rotary type fluid machine which includes at least first andsecond energy converting means, and can function as an expanding machinefor integrating and outputting mechanical energy generated by first andsecond energy converting means, respectively, by inputting the workingfluid having pressure energy in the first and second energy convertingmeans to convert the pressure energy to mechanical energy, and canfunction as a compressing machine for integrating and outputtingpressure energy of the working fluid generated by first and secondenergy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanicalenergy in the first and second energy converting means to convert themechanical energy to pressure energy of the working fluid, the firstenergy converting means including a cylinder radially formed in a rotorrotatably accommodated in a rotor chamber and a piston sliding in thecylinder, and the second energy converting means including a vane whichradially moves into and out of the rotor and has its outer peripheralsurface in slidable contact with an inner peripheral surface of therotor chamber, a roller associating with at least the vane and piston isprovided, and by placing the roller in engagement with a non-circularannular groove formed in a casing comparting the rotor chamber,reciprocating motion of the piston and rotary motion of the rotor aremutually converted and a clearance between the outer peripheral surfaceof the vane and the inner peripheral surface of the rotor chamber isregulated.

With the above-described eighth arrangement, the roller associating withthe vane and piston moving in a radial direction with respect to atleast the rotor rotating in the rotor chamber is provided, and theroller is placed in engagement with the non-circular annular grooveformed in the casing comparting the rotor chamber, so that whenfunctioning as the expanding machine, the reciprocating motion of thepiston can be converted to the rotary motion of the rotor, and whenfunctioning as the compressing machine, the rotary motion of the rotorcan be converted to the reciprocating motion of the piston with a simplestructure including the roller and annular groove. Further, guiding amoving track of the roller with the annular groove can regulate theclearance between the outer peripheral surface of the vane and the innerperipheral surface of the rotor chamber to prevent occurrence ofabnormal friction and a leak.

In addition to any one of the above-described sixth to eightharrangement, the rotary shaft of the rotor is matched to the center ofthe rotor chamber.

With the above-described ninth arrangement, the rotary shaft of therotor matches the center of the rotor chamber, which permits preventingan offset load from being applied to the rotor to restrain occurrence ofvibration with the rotation of the rotor.

It should be noted here that temperature and pressure of the hightemperature of high pressure vapor supplied to the vane type rotarymachine which functions as the expanding machine are reducedconcurrently with the pressure energy (heat energy) being converted tothe mechanical energy by the vane. On the other hand, in the vane typerotary machine which functions as the compressing machine, temperatureand pressure of the working fluid compressed by the vane driven by themechanical energy are gradually increased.

Thus, when a low pressure working fluid is supplied to the inner rotarymachine, and a high pressure working fluid is supplied to the outerrotary machine in the case where a plurality of rotary machine aredisposed inside and outside in the radial direction, there is a problemthat the pressure of the working fluid is wasted since the high pressureworking fluid tends to leak out of the casing. When a low temperatureworking fluid is supplied to the inner rotary machine, and a hightemperature working fluid is supplied to the outer rotary machine in thecase of where the plurality of rotary machine are disposed inside andoutside in the radial direction, there is a problem that heat efficiencyis reduced since the heat of the working fluid tends to leak out of thecasing.

Therefore, in the rotary type fluid machine which has at least first andsecond energy converting means disposed inside and outside in the radialdirection, it is desirable to minimize the leak of the heat and pressureof the working fluid to increase efficiency of the rotary type fluidmachine.

For this reason, in the above-described expanding machine 4, the firstenergy converting means including the cylinder member 39 and piston 41is disposed on the central side of the rotor chamber 14 and the secondenergy converting means including the vane 42 is disposed outside in theradial direction so as to surround the first energy converting means.Thus, the high temperature and high-pressure vapor is first supplied tothe first energy converting means (the cylinder member 39 and the piston41) on the central side, where the first reduced temperature and reducedpressure vapor after converted to the mechanical energy is supplied tothe second energy converting means (the vane 42) on the outer peripheralside. In this way, in the case where the first and second energyconverting means are disposed inside and outside in the radialdirection, the high temperature and high pressure vapor is supplied tothe inner first energy converting means and the reduced temperature andreduced pressure vapor is supplied to the outer second energy convertingmeans, whereby the pressure and heat of the high temperature and highpressure vapor leaked from the inner first energy converting means canbe captured and recovered by the outer second energy converting means toincrease efficiency of the whole expanding machine 4 by utilizing theleaked high temperature and high pressure vapor without waste. Further,the second energy converting means to which the first reducedtemperature and reduced pressure vapor whose pressure and temperatureare relatively low is supplied is disposed on the outer peripheral sideof the rotor chamber 14, thereby facilitating not only a seal forpreventing a leak of the working fluid from the rotor chamber 14 butalso heat insulation for preventing an outward leak of the heat from therotor chamber 14.

Meanwhile, when the rotary type fluid machine according to the presentinvention is used as a compressing machine, compressed air which iscompressed by undergoing a first stage compression by the vane 42 whichis the outer second energy converting means raises its pressure andtemperature, and the compressed air undergoes a second stage compressionby the cylinder means 39 and the piston 41 which are the inner firstenergy converting means to further raise its pressure and temperature.Thus, even when the rotary type fluid machine is used as the compressingmachine, the pressure and heat of the high temperature and high pressurecompressed air leaked from the inner first energy converting means canbe captured and recovered by the outer second energy converting means tonot only permit increasing efficiency of the whole compressing machinebut also facilitate a seal for preventing an outward leak of thecompressed air from the rotor chamber 14 and heat insulation forpreventing an outward leak of the heat from the rotor chamber 14.

That is, in the rotary type fluid machine which includes at least firstand second energy converting means, and can function as an expandingmachine for integrating and outputting mechanical energy generated byfirst and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputting theworking fluid having pressure energy in the first and second energyconverting means to convert the pressure energy to mechanical energy,and can function as a compressing machine for integrating and outputtingpressure energy of the working fluid generated by first and secondenergy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanicalenergy in the first and second energy converting means to convert themechanical energy to pressure energy of the working fluid, the highpressure working fluid is disposed on the central side of the rotorchamber which rotatably accommodates the rotor including the first andsecond energy converting means and the low pressure working fluid isdisposed on the outer peripheral side of the rotor chamber.

With the above-described tenth arrangement, the high pressure workingfluid and low pressure working fluids are respectively disposed on thecentral side and outer peripheral side of the rotor chamber whichrotatably accommodates the rotor, whereby the high pressure workingfluid leaked from the central side of the rotor chamber can be capturedand recovered by the low pressure working fluid on the outer peripheralside of the rotor chamber to increase efficiency of the whole rotarytype fluid machine by utilizing the leaked high temperature workingfluid without waste and to facilitate a seal for preventing an outwardleak of the working fluid from the rotor chamber.

In the rotary type fluid machine which includes at least first andsecond energy converting means, and can function as an expanding machinefor integrating and outputting mechanical energy generated by first andsecond energy converting means, respectively, by inputting the workingfluid having pressure energy in the first and second energy convertingmeans to convert the pressure energy to mechanical energy, and canfunction as a compressing machine for integrating and outputtingpressure energy of the working fluid generated by first and secondenergy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanicalenergy in the first and second energy converting means to convert themechanical energy to pressure energy of the working fluid, the hightemperature working fluid is disposed on the central side of the rotorchamber which rotatably accommodates the rotor including the first andsecond energy converting means and the low temperature working fluid isdisposed on the outer peripheral surface of the rotor chamber.

With the above-described eleventh arrangement, the high temperature andlow temperature working fluids are respectively disposed on the centralside and outer peripheral side of the rotor chamber which rotatablyaccommodates the rotor, whereby the high temperature working fluidleaked from the central side of the rotor chamber can be captured andrecovered by the low temperature working fluid on the outer peripheralside of the rotor chamber to increase efficiency of the whole rotarytype fluid machine by utilizing the leaked high temperature workingfluid without waste and to facilitate heat insulation for preventing anoutward leak of the heat from the rotor chamber.

Further, in the rotary type fluid machine which includes at least firstand second energy converting means, and can function as an expandingmachine for integrating and outputting mechanical energy generated byfirst and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputting theworking fluid having pressure energy in the first and second energyconverting means to convert the pressure energy to mechanical energy,and can function as a compressing machine for integrating and outputtingpressure energy of the working fluid generated by first and secondenergy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanicalenergy in the first and second energy converting means to convert themechanical energy to pressure energy of the working fluid, the highpressure and high temperature working fluid is disposed on the centralside of the rotor chamber which rotatably accommodates the rotorincluding the first and second energy converting means and the lowpressure and low temperature working fluid is disposed on the outerperipheral surface of the rotor chamber.

With the above-described twelfth arrangement, the high pressure and hightemperature working fluid and the low pressure and low temperatureworking fluid are respectively disposed on the central side and outerperipheral side of the rotor chamber which rotatably accommodates therotor, whereby the high pressure and high temperature working fluidleaked from the central side of the rotor chamber can be captured andrecovered by the low pressure and low temperature working fluid on theouter peripheral side of the rotor chamber to increase efficiency of thewhole rotary type fluid machine by utilizing the leaked high pressureand high temperature working fluid without waste. Moreover, the lowpressure and low temperature working fluid is disposed on the outerperipheral surface of the rotor chamber, thereby facilitating a seal forpreventing an outward leak of the working fluid from the rotor chamber,and heat insulation for preventing an outward leak of the heat from therotor chamber.

In addition to any one of the above-described tenth to twelftharrangements, the first energy converting means includes a cylinderradially formed in the rotor rotatably accommodated in the rotor chamberand a piston sliding in the cylinder, and the second energy convertingmeans includes a vane which radially moves into and out of the rotor andhas its outer peripheral surface in slidable contact with an innerperipheral surface of the rotor chamber.

With the above-described thirteenth arrangement, the first energyconverting means includes the cylinder radially formed in the rotorrotatably accommodated in the rotor chamber and a piston sliding in thecylinder, whereby sealing performance of the high pressure working fluidcan be increase to minimize an efficiency reduction due to a leak, andthe second energy converting means includes a vane which is supported bythe rotor movably in a radial direction and is slidable contact with theinner periphery of the rotor chamber, whereby a structure of aconversion mechanism between the pressure energy and mechanical energycan be simplified to permit dealing with a large flow amount of workingfluid with a compact structure. Thus, by the combination of the first,energy converting means including the piston and the cylinder with thesecond energy converting means including the vane, a high performancerotary type fluid machine having both features can be obtained.

It should be noted here that disclosed in the Japanese PatentApplication Laid-open No. 58-48076 is an apparatus using a simple vanemotor as an expanding machine, so that there is a problem that it isdifficult to efficiently convert high temperature and high pressurevapor energy generated by an evaporating machine to mechanical energy bythe expanding machine.

Thus, it is desirable to increase efficiency of the expanding machine ofa Rankine cycle apparatus and to efficiently convert the hightemperature and high pressure vapor energy to mechanical energy.

In this embodiment described above, in a Rankine cycle comprising theevaporating machine 3 for heating water by heat energy of exhaust gas ofthe internal combustion engine 1 to generate high temperature and highpressure vapor, the expanding machine 4 for converting the hightemperature and high pressure vapor supplied from the evaporatingmachine 3 to a shaft output with the constant torque, a condensingmachine 5 for liquefying reduced temperature and reduced pressure vaporexhausted from the expanding machine 4, and the supply pump 6 forsupplying water liquefied by the condensing machine 5 to the evaporatingmachine 3, adopted as the expanding machine 4 is of the displacementtype. The displacement type expanding machine 4 can recover energy withhigh efficiency in a wide range of the number of rotation from a lowspeed to high speed, and is also excellent in a following property andresponsivity to change of the heat energy of the exhaust gas (changes oftemperature and flow amount of the exhaust gas) depending on increaseand decrease of the number of rotation of the internal combustion engine1, compared with a non-displacement type expanding machine such as aturbine. Further, the expanding machine 4 is formed of the doubleexpansion type where the first energy converting means including thecylinder member 39 and the piston 41 and the second energy convertingmeans including the vane 42 are connected in series to be disposedinside and outside in the radial direction, so that recovery efficiencyof the heat energy by the Rankine cycle can be further improved togetherwith improvement in space efficiency by miniaturizing the expandingmachine 4.

That is, in a rotary type fluid machine including a displacement typeexpanding machine which is provided in a Rankine cycle apparatus wherepressure energy of high temperature and high pressure vapor generated byheating water with waste heat from prime motor is converted to themachine energy, and the resultant reduced temperature and reducedpressure vapor is condensed to be again heated by the waste heat, andconverts pressure energy to mechanical energy, the expanding machineincludes at least first and second energy converting means, andintegrates and outputs mechanical energy generated by the first andsecond energy converting means, respectively, by inputting the pressureenergy in the first and second energy converting means to convert thepressure energy to mechanical energy.

With the above-described fourteenth arrangement, in the Rankine cycleapparatus where the pressure energy of the high temperature and highpressure vapor generated by heating the water with the waste heat fromthe prime motor is converted to the mechanical energy, and the resultantreduced temperature and reduced pressure vapor is liquefied to be againheated by the waste heat, the expanding machine for converting thepressure energy to mechanical energy is formed of the displacement type,which makes it possible to increase efficiency of heat energy recoveryof Rankine cycle by recovering energy with high efficiency in the widerange of the number of rotation from the low speed to high speed, and tobe also excellent in the following property and responsivity to changeof the energy of the waste heat depending on increase and decrease ofthe number of rotation of the prime motor, compared with anon-displacement type expanding machine such as a turbine. Further, thedisplacement type expanding machine integrates and outputs the output ofthe first energy converting means and the output of the second energyconverting means, which permits not only converting the pressure energyof the high temperature and high pressure vapor to the mechanical energywithout waste but also improving space efficiency by miniaturizing theexpanding machine.

In addition to the above-described fourteenth arrangement, the firstenergy converting means includes the cylinder radially formed in therotor rotatably accommodated in the rotor chamber and the piston slidingin the cylinder, and the second energy converting means includes thevane which radially moves into and out of the rotor and has its outerperipheral surface in slidable contact with the inner peripheral surfaceof the rotor chamber.

With the above-described fifteenth arrangement, the first energyconverting means includes the cylinder radially formed in the rotorrotatably accommodated in the rotor chamber and the piston sliding inthe cylinder, whereby the sealing performance of the high pressure vaporcan be increased to permit minimizing an efficiency reduction due to aleak. The second energy converting means includes the vane which issupported by the rotor movably in the radial direction and is inslidable contact with the inner peripheral surface of the rotor chamber,whereby a structure of a conversion mechanism between the pressureenergy and mechanical energy can be simplified to permit dealing with alarge flow amount of vapor with a compact structure. Thus, by thecombination of the first energy converting means including the cylinderand piston with the second energy converting means including the vane, ahigh performance rotary type fluid machine having both features can beobtained.

In addition to the above-described fifteenth arrangement, a rollerassociating with the vane and piston is provided, and by placing theroller in engagement with a non-circular annular groove formed in acasing comparting the rotor chamber, reciprocating motion of the pistonand rotary motion of the rotor are mutually converted and a clearancebetween the outer peripheral surface of the vane and the innerperipheral surface of the rotor chamber is regulated.

With the above-described sixteenth arrangement, a roller associatingwith the vane and piston moving in the radial direction with respect toat least the rotor rotating in the rotor chamber is provided, and theroller is placed in engagement with the non-circular annular grooveformed in the casing comparting the rotor chamber, so that thereciprocating motion of the piston can be converted to the rotary motionof the rotor with a simple structure including the roller and annulargroove, and further, guiding a moving track of the roller with theannular groove can regulate the clearance between the outer peripheralsurface of the vane and the inner peripheral surface of the rotorchamber to prevent occurrence of abnormal friction or occurrence of aleak.

In addition to the fourteenth arrangement, the high pressure and hightemperature vapor is disposed on the central side of the rotor chamberwhich rotatably accommodates the rotor including the first and secondenergy converting means and the reduced temperature and reduced pressurevapor is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the rotor chamber.

With the above-described seventeenth arrangement, the high temperatureand high pressure vapor and the reduced temperature and reduced pressurevapor are respectively disposed on the central side and outer peripheralside of the rotor chamber which rotatably accommodates the rotor,whereby the high temperature and high pressure vapor leaked from thecentral side of the rotor chamber can be captured and recovered by thereduced temperature and reduced pressure vapor on the outer side of therotor chamber to increase efficiency of the whole rotary type fluidmachine utilizing the leaked high temperature and high pressure vaporwithout waste. Further, the reduced temperature and reduced pressurevapor is disposed on the outer peripheral side of the rotor chamber,which facilitates a seal for preventing an outward leak of the vaporfrom the rotor chamber and also facilitates heat insulation forpreventing an outward leak of the heat from the rotor chamber.

In addition to the above-described seventeenth arrangement, the firstenergy converting means includes a cylinder radially formed in the rotorrotatably accommodated in the rotor chamber and a piston sliding in thecylinder, and the second energy converting means includes a vane whichradially moves into and out of the rotor and has its outer peripheralsurface in slidable contact with an inner peripheral surface of therotor chamber.

With the above-described eighteenth arrangement, the first energyconverting means includes a cylinder radially formed in a rotorrotatably accommodated in the rotor chamber and a piston sliding in thecylinder, whereby the sealing performance of the high pressure vapor canbe minimized an efficiency reduction due to a leak. The second energyconverting means includes a vane which is supported by the rotor movablyin a radial direction and is in slidable contact with the innerperipheral surface of the rotor chamber, whereby a structure of aconversion mechanism between the pressure energy and mechanical energycan be simplified to permit dealing with a large flow amount of vaporwith a compact structure. Thus, by the combination of the first energyconverting means including the cylinder and piston with the secondenergy converting means including the vane, a high performance rotarytype fluid machine having both features can be obtained.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described onthe basis of FIGS. 12A and 12B.

Formed on an inner periphery of an outer end in a radial direction of alarge diameter cylinder hole f of twelve cylinder members 39 radiallyburied in the rotor 31 is an annular drain groove 121. The drain groove121 is covered with a piston 41 slidably fitted to the large diametercylinder hole f. However, when the piston 41 reaches the top dead centershown in FIG. 12A in a terminal stage of an expanding process, a part ofan inner side in a radial direction of the drain groove 121 is opened bythe piston 41 and water stored in the large diameter cylinder f isintroduced in the drain groove 121. When the piston 41 reaches thebottom dead center shown in FIG. 12B in a terminal stage of adischarging process, a part of an outer side in a radial direction ofthe drain groove 121 is opened by the piston 41 and water stored in thedrain groove 121 is exhausted into a slot-shaped space 34. In this way,with a simple machining of forming the annular drain groove 121 on aninner surface of the large diameter cylinder hole f, a water-hammerphenomenon where the water stored in the large diameter cylinder hole fis forced to be compressed by the piston 41 can be avoided, and anamount of exhaust water can be also appropriately adjusted as desiredsimply by changing depth of the drain groove 121. The inner space of thelarge diameter cylinder hole f does not directly communicate with eachslot-shaped space 34 through the drain groove 121, so that there is nopossibility of occurrence of a pressure leak of the high temperature andhigh pressure vapor.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described onthe basis of FIGS. 13A to 14.

In the third embodiment, in addition to the drain groove 121 of thelarge diameter cylinder hole f of the cylinder member 39 which is thearrangement of the second embodiment, a large number of drain grooves122 axially extending on the outer peripheral surface of the outer endin the radial direction of the piston 41 are formed (see FIG. 14).According to the third embodiment, the water can be exhausted into eachslot-shaped space 34 through the drain groove 122 of the piston 41 evenif the piston 41 is not completely retracted in the large diametercylinder hole f at the bottom dead center, which permits increasingfreedom degree in design of a length of the piston 41.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described onthe basis of FIGS. 15A and 15B.

In the fourth embodiment, in addition to the drain groove 121 of thelarge diameter cylinder hole f of the cylinder member 39 which is thearrangement of the second and third embodiments, a plurality of (in theembodiment four) recesses 123 circumferentially disposed in alongitudinal intermediate portion of the piston 41 are formed. When thepiston 41 is at the top dead center position shown in FIG. 15A, thedrain groove 121 of the large diameter cylinder hole f is opened by thepiston 41 and the recess 123 of the piston 41 communicates with eachslot-shaped space 34. When the piston 41 is at the bottom dead centerposition as shown in FIG. 15B, the communication between the draingroove 121 of the large diameter cylinder hole f and the recess 123 ofthe piston 41 is released. Thus, the drain groove 121 of the largediameter cylinder hole f communicates with the recess 123 of the piston41 in the intermediate position (not shown) in FIGS. 15A and 15B.

Therefore, when the piston 41 is at the top dead center, water held bythe recess 123 of the piston 41 is exhausted into each slot-shaped space34, then part of the water is passed from the drain groove 121 of thelarge diameter cylinder hole f to the recess 123 of the piston 41 duringa descent of the piston 41 toward the bottom dead center, andsubsequently the water is further passed from the drain groove 121 ofthe large diameter cylinder hole f to the recess 123 of the piston 41during a rise of the piston 41 toward the top dead center, and asdescribed above, the water held by the recess 123 of the piston 41 isexhausted into each slot-shaped space 34 when the piston 41 reaches thetop dead center.

Effects of the second to fourth embodiments will be summarized on thebasis of a graph in FIG. 16 as follows.

The abscissa axis represents phases of rotary angles of the rotor 31,and the phase 0° and phase 180° show a condition where the piston 41 isat the bottom dead center (see FIGS. 12B, 13B, 15B), and the phase 90°shows a condition where the piston 41 is at the top dead center (seeFIGS. 12A, 13A, 15A) In the second and third embodiments, water isexhausted from the large diameter cylinder hole f into each slot-shapedspace 34 when the piston 41 is at the bottom dead center. When thepiston 41 is at the bottom dead center, both of internal pressure of thelarge diameter cylinder hole f and internal pressure of each slot-shapedspace 34 are 23×10⁶ Pa, so that the water is exhausted withouthindrance. In the second and third embodiments, the water is suppliedfrom the inner space of the large diameter cylinder hole f to the draingroove 121 when the piston is around the top dead center. Especially inthe fourth embodiment, the water in the recess 123 is exhausted intoeach slot-shaped space 34 when the piston 41 is around the top deadcenter, and at this time, the pressure in each slot-shaped space 34 isreduced substantially to atmospheric pressure, thereby providing smoothexhaust of the water.

In the fourth embodiment, the water held by the recess 123 of the piston41 is exhausted into each slot-shaped space 34 when the phase of therotary angle of the rotor 31 is around 90°. The drain groove 121 of thesecond and third embodiments is required to be provided around anopening end of the large diameter cylinder hole f, while the draingroove 121 of the fourth embodiment can be provided apart from theopening end of the large diameter cylinder hole f, so that a seal lengthof a sliding surface between the piston 41 and the large diametercylinder hole f can be ensured long enough to minimize an efficiencyreduction due to the leak of vapor. Setting a position of the recess 123can also ease constraint of the length of the piston 41.

In this way, according to the above-described second to fourthembodiments, water condensed in the cylinder member 39 at the time oflow temperature actuation or the like or water supplied as a lubricatingmedium can be surely prevented from being trapped in the cylinder member39 to inhibit smooth movement of the piston 41.

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 17 to 21.

The fifth embodiment has features in structures of a fixed shaft 65 anda rotary valve V, and a right half of the fixed shaft 65 is formed witha support shaft 131 which has a diameter one stage smaller, and on anouter periphery of the support shaft 131, a plurality of members areaxially laminated one on another in a fitted manner to be fixed. Thatis, a left half of the fixed shaft 65 is formed with a hollow portion 70into which an inner pipe 77 and an introduction pipe 80 for hightemperature and high pressure vapor are coaxially inserted, and to theouter periphery of the support shaft 131 projecting from the right sidesurface, a passage forming member 132, a carbon valve 133, a spring 134for seal and an end member 135 are fitted. By fastening a bolt 136inserted from a right end of the end member 135 to a right end of thesupport shaft 131 of the fixed shaft 65, the passage forming member 132,carbon valve 133, spring 134 for seal and end member 135 are integratedso as to surround the outer peripheral surface of the support shaft 131.

A metal seal 137 is clamped between the fixed shaft 65 and the passageforming member 132, a metal seal 138 is supported in a sandwichedcondition between the passage forming member 132 and the carbon valve133, a metal seal 139 is supported in a sandwiched condition between thecarbon valve 133 and the spring 134 for seal, a metal seal 140 issupported in a sandwiched condition between the spring 134 for seal andthe end member 135, and a metal seal 141 is supported in a sandwichedcondition between the metal seal 140 and the bolt 136. The carbon valve133 is made of carbon, and for the fixed shaft 65 and componentsattached to the fixed shaft 65 other than the carbon valve 133, aceramic base material having small coefficient of thermal expansion, forexample, Inco 909 is adopted. The passage forming member 132 is formedof a member independent of the fixed shaft 65 in terms of machining, andis fixed to the fixed shaft 65 by brazing after assembly.

Two, first and second vapor supply ports 142, 143 having phases 180°shifted open into the outer peripheral surface of the carbon valve 133,and two, first and second recess-shaped exhaust portions 144, 145 havingphases shifted with respect to these two vapor supply ports 142, 143 areformed. The first and second vapor supply ports 142, 143 communicatewith the introduction pipe 80 for high temperature and high pressurevapor via the carbon valve 133, the passage forming member 132 and hightemperature and high pressure vapor passage 146 formed in the fixedshaft 65. On the other hand, respectively formed on the first and secondrecess-shaped exhaust portions 144, 145 are first and second vaporexhaust ports 147, 148, which communicate with an expansion chamber 20via a hollow part r, a passage s and each through-hole t (see FIG. 17).

The fixed shaft 65, the passage forming member 132 laminated on theouter periphery of the support shaft 131, the carbon valve 133, thespring 134 for seal and the end member 135 are axially heat expanded andheat compressed, but a spring force of the spring 134 for seal ensures aclose contact between the fixed shaft 65 and passage forming member 132and a close contact between the passage forming member 132 and thecarbon valve 133, which ensures sealing performance of the hightemperature and high pressure vapor passage 146 passing through thecarbon valve 133, the passage forming member 132 and fixed shaft 65, thefirst and second vapor supply ports 142, 143 and the first and secondvapor exhaust ports 147, 148.

As is clearly shown from FIG. 20, the spring 134 for seal has eightslits 150 radially extending from a circular opening 149 fitted to theouter periphery of the support shaft 131 of the fixed shaft 65, andeight springs 151 sandwiched by the adjacent slits 150 exhibit theirspring function.

Formed on a right side surface of the carbon valve 133 opposite a leftside surface of the spring 134 for seal is a recess 152, where, forexample, five belleville springs 153 are accommodated in a laminatedmanner. These five belleville springs 153 act so as to help the functionof the spring 134 for seal, and cooperation of both of them furtherensures the sealing performance of the high temperature and highpressure vapor passage 146, the first and second vapor supply ports 142,143, and the first and second vapor exhaust ports 147, 148.

As is clearly shown in FIG. 21, the belleville spring 153 has eightslits 155 radially extending from a circular opening 154 fitted to theouter periphery of the support shaft 131 of the fixed shaft 65, andeight springs 156 sandwiched between the adjacent slits 155 exhibittheir spring function.

As is shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the carbon valve 33 provided in thefixed shaft 65 is provided with a rotary valve V as follows, whichsupplies high temperature and high pressure vapor to the cylinder member39 of the first to twelfth vane-piston units U1-U12 through a pluralityof, in this embodiment twelve through-holes c successively formed on thehollow shaft 64 and the output shaft 23, and exhausts a first reducedtemperature and reduced pressure vapor after expansion from the cylindermember 39 through the through-holes c.

The rotary valve V has an extremely simple structure and includes thefirst and second vapor supply ports 142, 143 opening into the outerperiphery of the carbon valve 133 provided in the fixed shaft 65, thefirst and second vapor exhaust ports 147, 148 opening into the outerperiphery of the carbon valve 133 through the first and secondrecess-shaped exhaust portions 144, 145, and twelve through-holes cformed with a predetermined space on the hollow shaft 64 rotatedintegrally with the rotor 31. Therefore, when the rotor 31 (that is, thehollow shaft 64) exerts a relative rotation with respect to the fixedshaft 65 (that is, the carbon valve 133), the first and second vaporsupply ports 142, 143 opening into the outer periphery of the carbonvalve 133 successively communicate with twelve cylinder members 39through twelve through-holes c of the hollow shaft 64, and twelvecylinder members 39 in which the respective pistons 41 have finishedtheir work successively communicate with the first and secondrecess-shaped exhaust portions 144, 145 opening into the outer peripheryof the carbon valve 133.

Therefore, also referring to FIG. 18, an axis of a first supply pipe 94is slightly shifted in a counterclockwise direction relative to theshort diameter position E of the rotor chamber 14 in FIG. 4, and thefirst vane-piston unit U1 is located in the short diameter position Eand the high temperature and high pressure vapor is not supplied to thelarge diameter cylinder hole f, and therefore the piston 41 and vane 42are located in a backward position.

From this condition, the rotor 31 is slightly rotated in thecounterclockwise direction in FIG. 4, the first vapor supply port 142 ofthe carbon valve 133 communicates with the through-hole c, and the hightemperature and high pressure vapor from the introduction pipe 80 isintroduced in the large diameter cylinder hole f through a smalldiameter hole b. This causes forward motion of the piston 41, and theforward motion is converted to rotary motion of the rotor 31 byengagement between the roller 59 integral with the vane 42 and theannular groove 60 via the vane 42 due to the vane 42 sliding toward along diameter position F of the rotor chamber 14. When the through-holec is shifted from the first vapor supply port 142, the high temperatureand high pressure vapor expands in the large diameter cylinder hole f tofurther move forward the piston 41, and thus the rotation of the rotor31 is continued. The expansion of the high temperature and high pressurevapor ends when the first vane-piston unit U1 reaches a long diameterposition F of the rotor chamber 14. Then, due to the piston 41 movedbackward by the vane 42, concurrently with the rotation of the rotor 31,the first reduced temperature and reduced pressure vapor in the largediameter cylinder hole f is exhausted into the junction chamber 20through the short diameter hole b, the through-hole c, the firstrecess-shaped exhaust portion 144, first vapor exhaust hole 147,passages (see FIG. 17), and each through-hole t, and then as shown inFIGS. 2 and 5, introduced in the rotor chamber 14 through the firstintroduction hole group 107 and further expands between the adjacentvanes 42 to rotate the rotor 31, and then the second reduced temperatureand reduced pressure vapor is exhausted outwardly from the first leadinghole group 110.

As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, the rotary valveV supplying the high temperature and high pressure vapor to the cylindermember 39 and exhausting the reduced temperature and reduced pressurevapor having finished its work from the cylinder 39 is formed to befitted rotatably and in a sealing condition relative to the carbon valve133 provided on the outer periphery of the fixed shaft 65 and the hollowshaft 64 provided on the inner periphery of the rotor 41, so that a leakof the vapor can be surely prevented simply by controlling clearancebetween the carbon valve 133 and hollow shaft 64, and that the need forspecial energizing means such as a spring or bellows for sealing iseliminated to permit contributing to reduction in the number ofcomponents. The clearance of the sliding surface of inner periphery ofthe carbon valve 133 and the outer periphery of the hollow shaft 64 is,for example, about 5 μm, and this value permits having both sealingperformance and durability.

Next, a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described onthe basis of FIGS. 22 to 25.

In the sixth embodiment, first and second port grooves 124, 125 areprovided in a carved manner around first and second seal blocks 92, 93accommodated in the fixed shaft 65. The first and second port grooves124, 125 provided in the carved manner on the outer peripheral surfaceof the fixed shaft 65 are of substantially oval shape, and are disposedso as to respectively surround outer peripheries of the first and secondseal blocks 92, 93, and communicate, at their both ends on long axissides, with the first and second recess-shaped exhaust portions 102,103.

Thus, even when part of the high temperature and high pressure vaporsupplied from the first and second supply pipes 94, 95 of the first andsecond seal blocks 92, 93 leaks along the inner peripheral surface ofthe hollow shaft 64 without passing through the through-hole c of thehollow shaft 64, the leaked vapor is captured by the first and secondport grooves 124, 125 which have pressure lower than the vapor and issupplied to the first and second recess-shaped exhaust portions 102,103, and supplied therefrom to the rotor chamber 14 through the firstand second exhaust ports 104, 105 to be set driven by the vane 42. Thatis, the high temperature and high pressure vapor which has not passedthrough the through-hole c of the hollow shaft 64 and has not been usedfor driving the piston 41 is also used for driving the vane 42 by beingcaptured by the first and second port grooves 124, 125, therebycontributing to improvement in energy efficiency of the whole expandingmachine 4.

Pressure of lubricating water supplied to the sliding surface of thefixed shaft 65 and the hollow shaft 64 (see arrows W in FIGS. 24 and 25)is set higher than the pressure of the reduced temperature and reducedpressure vapor which attempts to leak from the first and secondrecess-shaped exhaust portions 102, 103 along the inner peripheralsurface of the hollow shaft 64, so that the reduced temperature andreduced pressure vapor does not leak along the inner peripheral surfaceof the hollow shaft 64, and is introduced in the first and secondexhaust ports 104, 105 to be effectively used for driving the vane 42.

In the above-described embodiment, description is made to the case ofusing the rotary type fluid machine as the expanding machine 4, but thefirst and second port grooves 124, 125 also function effectively whenusing the rotary type fluid machine as a compressing machine. That is,the rotor 31 is rotated by the output shaft 23 and outside air is suckedfrom the first and second leading hole groups 110, 111 into the rotorchamber 14 by the vane 42 and is compressed, the compressed air thusobtained is supplied from the first and second introduction hole groups107, 108 to the large diameter cylinder hole f through the junctionchamber 20, each through-hole t, the passage s, the first and secondexhaust holes 104, 105, the first and second recess-shaped exhaustportions 102, 103, and the through-hole c, and is further compressed bythe piston 41, and the compressed air can be extracted through theintroduction pipe 80 for high pressure vapor.

At this time, compressed air leaked from the through-hole c of thehollow shaft 64 along the inner peripheral surface of the hollow shaft64 is captured by the first and second port grooves 124, 125 andreturned to the first and second recess-shaped exhaust portions 102,103, so that the compressed air can be supplied from the through-hole cto the large diameter cylinder hole f and compressed again by the piston41 to prevent reduction in compression efficiency as the compressingmachine.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail,however, various changes in design may be made without departing fromthe spirit.

For example, in the embodiments, the expanding machine 4 is illustratedas the rotary type fluid machine, but the present invention may beapplied as a compressing machine.

Further, in the expanding machine 4 of the embodiments, the hightemperature and high pressure vapor is supplied to the cylinder member39 and the piston 41 which are the first energy converting means, andthen the first reduced temperature and reduced pressure vapor caused bya reduction in temperature and pressure thereof is supplied to the vane42 which is the second energy converting means, but for example, vaporwith different temperatures and pressures may be individually suppliedto the first and second energy converting means, respectively, byplacing the through-hole t for exhausting the first reduced temperatureand reduced pressure vapor from the first energy converting means shownin FIG. 2 in communication with or in non-communication with thejunction chamber 20 and by forming means for permitting individualsupply of the vapor to the junction chamber 20 through the shell-shapedmember 16 independently of the second energy converting means. Further,the vapor which has passed through the first energy converting meanswith the temperature and pressure reduced may be further supplied to thesecond energy converting means at the same time the vapor with differenttemperatures and pressures of the first and second energy convertingmeans are individually supplied.

Further, in the embodiments, the roller 59 is provided in the vane body43 of the vane-piston units U1-U12, but the roller 59 may be provided inthe other portions of the vane-piston units U1-U12, for example, thepiston 41.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, each of a rotary type fluid machine, a vane typefluid machine, and a waste heat recovering device for an internalcombustion engine according to the present invention is useful whencarrying out conversion of pressure energy to mechanical energy orconversion of the mechanical energy to the pressure energy, and isespecially suitable for use as an expanding machine of a Rankine cycleapparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. A rotary fluid machine including at least first and second energy converting means, wherein the fluid machine functions as an expanding machine and a compressing machine, when functioning as the expanding machine, the fluid machine integrates and outputs mechanical energy generated by the first and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputting a working fluid having a pressure energy into the first and second energy converting means to convert the pressure energy into the mechanical energy, and when functioning as the compressing machine, the fluid machine integrates and outputs the working fluid pressure energy generated by the first and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanical energy into the first and second energy converting means to convert the mechanical energy into the working fluid pressure energy, wherein a first working fluid is disposed on a central side of a rotor chamber which rotatably accommodates a rotor, including the first and second energy converting means, and a second working fluid is disposed on an outer peripheral side of the rotor chamber, and wherein a pressure of the first working fluid is greater than a pressure of the second working fluid.
 2. The rotary fluid machine according to claim 1, wherein the first energy converting means comprises: a plurality of cylinders radially formed in the rotor rotatably accommodated in the rotor chamber; and a plurality of pistons, each piston sliding in a corresponding cylinder, and wherein the second energy converting means comprises: a plurality of vanes which radially move into and out of the rotor, each vane having an outer peripheral surface thereof placed in slidable contact with an inner peripheral surface of the rotor chamber.
 3. A rotary fluid machine including at least first and second energy converting means, wherein the fluid machine functions as an expanding machine and a compressing machine, when functioning as the expanding machine, the fluid machine integrates and outputs mechanical energy generated by the first and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputting a working fluid having a pressure energy into the first and second energy converting means to convert the pressure energy into the mechanical energy, and when functioning as the compressing machine, the fluid machine integrates and outputs the working fluid pressure energy generated by the first and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanical energy into the first and second energy converting means to convert the mechanical energy into the working fluid pressure energy, wherein a first working fluid is disposed on a central side of a rotor chamber which rotatably accommodates a rotor, including the first and second energy converting means, and a second working fluid is disposed on an outer peripheral side of the rotor chamber, and wherein a temperature of the first working fluid is greater than a temperature of the second working fluid.
 4. The rotary fluid machine according to claim 3, wherein the first energy converting means comprises: a plurality of cylinders radially formed in the rotor rotatably accommodated in the rotor chamber; and a plurality of pistons, each piston sliding in a corresponding cylinder, and wherein the second energy converting means comprises: a plurality of vanes which radially move into and out of the rotor, each vane having an outer peripheral surface thereof placed in slidable contact with an inner peripheral surface of the rotor chamber.
 5. A rotary fluid machine including at least first and second energy converting means, wherein the fluid machine functions as an expanding machine and a compressing machine, when functioning as the expanding machine, the fluid machine integrates and outputs mechanical energy generated by the first and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputting a working fluid having a pressure energy into the first and second energy converting means to convert the pressure energy into the mechanical energy, and when functioning as the compressing machine, the fluid machine integrates and outputs the working fluid pressure energy generated by the first and second energy converting means, respectively, by inputting the mechanical energy into the first and second energy converting means to convert the mechanical energy into the working fluid pressure energy, wherein a first working fluid is disposed on a central side of a rotor chamber which rotatably accommodates a rotor, including the first and second energy converting means, and a second working fluid is disposed on an outer peripheral side of the rotor chamber, and wherein a pressure and temperature of the first working fluid is greater than a pressure and temperature of the second working fluid.
 6. The rotary fluid machine according to claim 5, wherein the first energy converting means comprises: a plurality of cylinders radially formed in the rotor rotatably accommodated in the rotor chamber; and a plurality of pistons, each piston sliding in a corresponding cylinder, and wherein the second energy converting means comprises: a plurality of vanes which radially move into and out of the rotor, each vane having an outer peripheral surface thereof placed in slidable contact with an inner peripheral surface of the rotor chamber. 